character sketch of Nomita
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Nomita is a spirited character ready to fight against male supremacy and inequality. A fire starts raging inside her when she discovers that her husband has once again opened a letter addressed to her and spoiled it without even telling her about it. It was a usual letter from her mother requesting them for financial help. Her thought “Why, why, does she keep on begging like this?” tells a lot about her character. Her mother always requests them for money.Nomita does not like it. Nomita does not want her mother to be dependent on her husband.She appears proud and wants to be self-reliant .Her retort to her husband, "Stop it! What a common, vulgar man you are!" is revealing.Nomita has decided to question the ugly behavior of her husband. His explanation is that some one would have been passing her love letters secretly. It is the duty and right of the husband to stop this happening. It was more than Nomita could bear, She does not hesitate to call her husband a vulgar person when her husband doubts her integrity in a baseless manner.
The man goes on revealing his cheap thoughts , calling her a dung picker’s daughter and her mother a beggar. Nomita decides to teach him a lesson and that’s how she foolishly sets fire to her own clothes. But this frightens the man who starts running to dowse the fire to save the pride of the family.
She reaches downstairs and tries to create a discussion in the family on the uglybehavior of her husband by pointing out that their talk had been angry talk .But no one in there is wise enough to understand her. Instead every one thinks like the Mejo wife that it has been love talk all day in their cozy room. Nomita laughs at the foolishness of her relatives who know nothing about of the fire burning inside her. Nomita laughs a laugh that can bring an attractive flush to a white face. This way she controls herself and acts like a meek and obedient bride in a joint family. Even while submitting to her unfortunate destiny in the family , she is thinking about how she might be able to send her mother some money ! Happiness seems to allude her.Instead she remains emotionally upset in the story from the beginning to the end.The woman , as Ashapoorna Debi analyses, is only a matchbox. She will never get a chance to expose the cheap male supremacy of her husband in the closed structure of a joint family. She has no space to express herself. Nomita is a typical emotional Indian woman-proud,loving,kind, hardworking ,busy and energetic. But she is always treated as a commodity by the male counterpart. She has the materials within her to set off many fires against injustice,discrimination and inequality. What she lacks is the right approach. She is hissing like a snake.She speaks her mind. She flares up in anger. She acts well. But it is not enough. Emotional outbursts or meek submission are not the required responses here. A woman will have to fight it out through calm and calculated moves. It will be possible only through education and empowerment.